Press statement
Low price alcohol still No 1 problem, say NHS staff
A snapshot survey of doctors and nurses treating patients
with alcohol related harm showed that many believe that public health
campaigns are not effective and that action on sales of low priced
alcohol is the most important weapon for tackling the rising tide of
alcohol problems.
The survey was carried out by the Royal College of
Physicians and the Royal College of Nursing. It asked
gastroenterologists, hepatologists, acute physicians and nurses for
their expert opinion on Government policy initiatives and national
strategies to tackle alcohol related harm, the provision of service for
people with alcohol related health problems and the scale of alcohol
related health harms in their particular clinical environment.
Significant findings were:
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84% of respondents thought that public health campaigns were not effective.
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73% felt action on low priced alcohol was needed to tackle alcohol related problems.
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90% believed that all alcohol products should be labelled with unit information and sensible drinking guidelines
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71% believed that greater investment in treatment services was needed.
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81% thought that if alcohol was more expensive, there would be a decrease in consumption.
Another issue highlighted by the survey was serious
under-investment in staff and services for alcohol treatment, including a
lack of specialist nurses. 88% of the clinicians surveyed said funding
had not kept up with demand or that services were suffering from
underinvestment. Staff felt that this was leading to gaps in service
such as a lack of access to alcohol liaison services in the community.
Concerns included waiting times for support services that were so long
that even the most motivated of patients became disillusioned before
they were seen for assessment. A dire lack of community detoxification
facilities was also highlighted.
Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance said:
“While informing the public through health campaigns is
important, these findings shows that front line doctors and nurses
treating patients with drink problems do not believe that this enough to
reverse our binge drinking culture and must be linked to tough actions
on cheap alcohol and round the clock availability.”
Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
“Nurses have said time and time again that the Government
must take more drastic action to tackle the growing issue of alcohol
misuse. Better regulation of the labelling, sale and advertising of
alcoholic drinks, as well as widespread education on the dangers of
excessive alcohol consumption, is needed to curb this significant
problem. The RCN again calls for the introduction of a single mandatory
code that applies to the whole alcohol industry to prevent retailers
from engaging in unscrupulous practices which encourage consumers to
drink to excess.”
Notes to Editors
For further information or to arrange an interview please
contact Frank Soodeen on 0207 935 1174 ext 468. Out of hours inquiries
should be directed to 07896416409. Alternatively you can contact, Linda
Cuthbertson PR Manager at the Royal College on Physicians on 020 7935
1174 x254 or on 07941 057 494.
For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit www.rcn.org.uk/news/mediacentre.php
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of
nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing
staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses, healthcare
assistants and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape
healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other
national and international institutions, trade unions, professional
bodies and voluntary organisations.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) plays a
leading role in the delivery of high quality patient care by setting
standards of medical practice and promoting clinical excellence. We
provide physicians in the United Kingdom and overseas with education,
training and support throughout their careers. As an independent body
representing over 20,000 Fellows and Members worldwide, we advise and
work with government, the public, patients and other professions to
improve health and healthcare.